In the grand scheme of things, it's a mediocre signing. But it's the mediocre signings that help solidify a ball club. We could have done a lot worse than sign Ben Watson who fills a role on our ball club that we needed to address.

-Can he block? Check.
-Can he catch? Check.
-Does he fill a need? Check.
-Does he play special teams? Check.
-Was he cheap? Check.

Definitely not a clone. Watson is a much better receiver. Thomas had good hands but no athleticism. Watson can stretch it down field a bit more, and that makes him a very nice player to have as a backup. We can also run some two tight end sets, and the defense will have to respect both players. with Thomas, you knew he was in there to block. His catches were usually for very minimal yardage.

"He's versatile," Payton said. "He's one of those players when you watch the tape: he run blocks well, he's a threat in the passing game, he plays with great leverage, he plays with great experience. He does a lot of things well. When we watched the film on him, we kept getting back to how many times we were putting a tackle in the game to report eligible. I think his signing will maybe give us more versatility."